Cube Solver· Guide Timer Open the solver
The guide

How to solve a Rubik's cube, step by step

Never held one before? Start at the top and go step by step — you will solve it with the beginner method in an afternoon. Already can? Pick a faster method below. Every move sequence here can be watched on a 3D cube.

Before you start

Start here

Five minutes on what the cube actually is makes every method easier.

Centres (1 per side, 6 in all) never move against each other. The centre decides a side's colour: the side with the red centre is the red side.
Edges (12) sit between two centres and have two colours.
Corners (8) have three colours.
So you are not moving stickers around — you are moving pieces into place. A white-red edge can only ever go between the white and red centres.

Reading the moves: Rubik's cube notation

Each letter is a side, seen from where you are: Up, Down, Right, Left, Front, Back. A letter alone means a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at that side. ' (say “prime”) means anticlockwise, and 2 means a half turn.

Utop layer
front row slides left
Dbottom layer
front row slides right
Rright side
rolls up at the front
Lleft side
rolls down at the front
Ffront
clockwise, like a clock
Bback
looks anticlockwise from the front

Hold it still

Pick a front and keep it facing you. Moves only make sense if the cube does not turn in your hands.

Algorithms are recipes

A sequence like R U R' U' is a fixed recipe that does one job. You do not need to understand it — just do it exactly, in order.

Extra letters

M turns the middle slice (the same way as L). A lower-case letter like r turns that side and the middle slice together.

More on reading moves, including slice moves, rotations and how moves are counted: the full Rubik's cube notation guide → Every algorithm from this guide on one page: the algorithms cheat sheet →

Method 1

Beginner (layer by layer)

The one to learn first. Solve the cube one layer at a time, bottom to top.

Difficulty
Turns per solveabout 100–150
Time to learnan afternoon
Algorithms7
Solve my cube this way →
Hold the cube with the white centre on the bottom and yellow on top for most of the solve. Whatever faces you is the front.

The daisy

Goal: Four white edges around the yellow centre, like petals round a flower.

Turn the cube so yellow is on top. Find the four edge pieces that have white on them, and bring each one up so its white sticker sits next to the yellow centre. When a white edge is in the way, turn the top layer to make room first. You do not need any sequence for this — just turn and watch.

TipIf a petal is already in place, turn the top (U) to move it out of the way before you bring the next one up.

The white cross

Goal: A white plus sign on the bottom, each arm matching the centre beside it.

Look at one petal. Its other sticker (not the white one) has a colour. Turn the top layer until that sticker sits above the centre of the same colour. Then turn that face twice (for example F2) — the petal flips down to the bottom. Do the same for all four petals.

Turn the cube over (white on the bottom): you should see a white cross whose arms line up with the side centres.

TipAlways match first, then turn the face twice. That order is the whole trick.

The white corners

Goal: The whole bottom layer done: white face plus a matching row on each side.

Find a corner in the top layer that has white on it. Turn the top until that corner sits directly above the spot where it belongs — the spot between the two centres that match its other two colours. Hold the cube so that spot is at the front-right-bottom.

Now repeat the four-move sequence below until the corner drops in with white facing down. It takes 1, 3 or 5 repeats. Then go to the next corner.

TipThis sequence is so common it has a nickname: “the sexy move”. Doing it six times in a row puts everything back as it was — handy if you get lost.

Corner in, one step at a time

RUR'U'

Repeat until the white corner is in place and white faces down.

The middle layer

Goal: The first two layers finished — only the top is left.

Turn the cube so yellow is on top and white on the bottom. Find an edge in the top layer that has no yellow. Turn the top until that edge's front sticker matches the front centre, making an upside-down “T”.

Now look at its top sticker: if it matches the right centre, the edge goes right; if it matches the left centre, it goes left. Use the matching sequence. If an edge is stuck in the middle layer the wrong way round, do either sequence once to pop it out, then insert it properly.

TipBoth sequences are the same idea, mirrored: move the slot away, bring the edge over, put the slot back.

Edge goes to the right

URU'R'U'F'UF

Front sticker matches the front; top sticker matches the right centre.

Edge goes to the left

U'L'ULUFU'F'

Front sticker matches the front; top sticker matches the left centre.

The yellow cross

Goal: A yellow plus sign on top (the corners can be anything).

Look at the top. You will see one of four shapes made by the yellow edges: a dot (just the centre), an L, a line, or already a cross.

Hold an L so it points to the back-left (the corner of the L at the back-left), and a line so it runs left to right. Then do the sequence. Dot → L → line → cross: each go moves you one shape along.

TipFrom a dot, do it once, hold the L correctly, and carry on.

Dot → L → line → cross

FRUR'U'F'

Hold an L at the back-left, a line left-to-right.

Line up the yellow edges

Goal: Each yellow edge's side colour matches the centre below it.

Turn the top layer until at least two edges match their side centres. If two neighbouring edges match, hold them at the back and right. If two opposite edges match, do the sequence once from anywhere, then look again.

Do the sequence, then turn the top if needed until all four line up.

TipThe first seven moves are the Sune — a sequence that comes back in every advanced method, so it is worth learning well.

Swap two yellow edges

RUR'URU2R'U

Matching pair at the back and the right; the front and left edges swap.

Put the yellow corners in place

Goal: Every yellow corner in its correct spot (it may still be twisted).

A corner is “in place” when it sits between the three centres of its colours, even if it is twisted. Find one corner that is already in place and hold it at the front-right. Do the sequence (once or twice) until all four are in place. If none is in place, do it once from anywhere first.

TipIt cycles the other three corners round, and leaves the front-right one alone.

Cycle three corners

URU'L'UR'U'L

The corner at the front-right stays put.

Twist the last corners

Goal: Solved!

Turn the cube over so yellow faces down and white is on top. Hold a corner that needs twisting at the front-right-bottom. Repeat the sequence two or four times until yellow faces down on that corner. The rest of the cube will look scrambled — that is normal, keep going.

Now turn only the bottom layer (D) to bring the next twisted corner to the front-right-bottom, and repeat. When the last corner is done, one final turn of the bottom layer solves the cube.

TipNever turn the whole cube during this step — only the bottom layer. The mess fixes itself at the end.

Twist a corner

R'D'RD

Repeat 2 or 4 times per corner. Six repeats undo it completely.

Method 2

CFOP (Fridrich)

What most speedcubers use. Cross, First two layers, Orient and Permute the last layer.

Difficulty
Turns per solveabout 55–60
Time to learna few weeks (2-look) to months (full)
Algorithms16 to start, 78 in full
Solve my cube with CFOP →
Build the cross on the bottom and keep it there, so you can see the rest of the cube while you work.

C — Cross

Goal: The white cross on the bottom, in one go.

Same cross as the beginner method, but built directly on the bottom instead of via a daisy. Good crosses take 8 moves or fewer. Plan the whole cross while inspecting the cube, before you start turning.

TipPractise solving the cross without looking at the bottom — it is the single biggest early improvement.

F2L — First two layers

Goal: The four bottom corners and four middle edges, as four corner-and-edge pairs.

Instead of a corner then an edge, CFOP joins each bottom corner with the middle edge that belongs next to it, and drops the pair in at once. It is mostly intuitive: bring the two pieces together in the top layer, then insert them together.

The basic idea: hide the slot, join the pair, bring the slot back. The three short moves below are the building blocks almost every case is made from.

TipLearn to solve pairs slowly and without pausing before learning more cases. Smooth beats fast.

Insert a ready pair (right)

URU'R'

Pair joined at the front-top, slot at the front-right.

Insert a ready pair (right, other way)

RUR'

Pair at the right-top, pointing towards you.

Insert a ready pair (left)

U'L'UL

The mirror, for slots on the left.

OLL — make the top one colour (2-look)

Goal: The whole top face yellow.

Look 1 — the yellow edges. Exactly the beginner's yellow cross, with a faster move for the L shape.

Look 2 — the yellow corners. With the cross done, the corners show one of seven patterns. Each has its own sequence. Learn Sune and Anti-Sune first: they are the most common and every other one can be reached through them.

TipFull OLL is 57 cases done in one look. Most people stay with 2-look for months — that is fine.

Line → cross

FRUR'U'F'

Line held left to right.

L → cross

FURU'R'F'

L held at the back-left (its arms pointing back and left).

Sune

RUR'URU2R'

One yellow corner on top — hold it at the front-left.

Anti-Sune

RU2R'U'RU'R'

One yellow corner on top — hold it at the back-right.

H

RUR'URU'R'URU2R'

No yellow corners on top; left and right sides show two yellows each.

Pi

RU2R2U'R2U'R2U2R

No yellow corners on top; yellows on the left side face left.

Headlights

R2DR'U2RD'R'U2R'

Two yellow corners at the back; two yellows facing you.

Chameleon

rUR'U'r'FRF'

Two yellow corners on top, both on the right; the other two show yellow at the front and back.

Bowtie

F'rUR'U'r'FR

Two yellow corners on top, diagonal: back-right and front-left.

PLL — move the top pieces home (2-look)

Goal: Solved.

Look 1 — the corners. Look for two corners on one side with matching colours (“headlights”). If you find them, hold them on the left and do the T-perm. If there are none anywhere, do the Y-perm.

Look 2 — the edges. Now only the edges are left: three of them need cycling one way or the other (Ua, Ub), or they swap in pairs (H, Z).

TipFull PLL is 21 cases. Of all the full sets, it is the one most worth learning early.

T-perm (swap two corners)

RUR'U'R'FR2U'R'U'RUR'F'

Headlights (a matching pair of corners) on the left; it swaps the two corners on the right.

Y-perm (swap diagonal corners)

FRU'R'U'RUR'F'RUR'U'R'FRF'

No headlights anywhere.

Ua (cycle three edges)

RU'RURURU'R'U'R2

One edge already right — hold it at the back. Ua and Ub cycle the other three in opposite directions: if one makes it worse, the other is the one you need.

Ub (cycle three edges, the other way)

R2URUR'U'R'U'R'UR'

Solved edge at the back.

H (swap opposite edges)

M2UM2U2M2UM2

Every side shows a stripe of the opposite colour. M turns the middle slice (like L).

Z (swap neighbouring edges)

M'UM2UM2UM'U2M2U'

Two neighbouring pairs of edges swap. M turns the middle slice, the same way as L.

Method 3

Roux

Build two blocks on the sides, then finish with the middle slice. Few moves, lots of thinking.

Difficulty
Turns per solveabout 45–50
Time to learnweeks
Algorithmsa handful to start, 42 in full
The two blocks sit on the left and right, at the bottom. The top layer and the middle slice (M) stay free until the end.

First block (left)

Goal: A 1×2×3 block on the bottom-left: the left centre with its 5 pieces.

Solve a block three pieces long, two tall and one wide on the left side, at the bottom — the left centre, the bottom-left edge, and the two corner-and-edge pairs in front of and behind it. It is built fully intuitively, a bit like F2L pairs.

TipStart by placing the bottom-left edge next to the left centre, then add one pair at the front and one at the back.

Second block (right)

Goal: The same block on the right, without breaking the first.

Build the mirror block on the right. You may now use only the right layer (R, r), the top (U) and the middle slice (M) — any other turn would break the first block.

TipM turns are your friend here: they move pieces between front and back without touching either block.

CMLL — the top corners

Goal: The four top corners oriented and in place, all at once.

With both blocks built, solve the four top corners. The edges and centres of the M slice can be anything — Roux ignores them until the last step, which is why its corner algorithms are short.

A gentle way in (2-look): first make the top corners yellow on top with the OLL corner sequences (Sune and friends), then swap corners with a corner swap. Full CMLL does both in one look.

TipSune and Anti-Sune use only R and U turns, so they never touch your blocks.

Sune

RUR'URU2R'

One yellow corner on top — hold it at the front-left.

Anti-Sune

RU2R'U'RU'R'

One yellow corner on top — hold it at the back-right.

Swap two corners (T-perm)

RUR'U'R'FR2U'R'U'RUR'F'

Corners already yellow on top: swaps the two corners on the right. The edges do not matter yet in Roux.

LSE — the last six edges

Goal: Solved, using only M and U.

Six edges are left (four on top, two in the M slice at the front and back bottom), plus the M-slice centres. Everything is done with only M and U turns, in three parts:

  1. Orient the edges: make every edge's “good” colour face up or down (short patterns like M' U M' flip them in groups).
  2. Left and right edges: put the top-left and top-right edges in place.
  3. The M slice: cycle the last four edges home with M2 and U2 moves.
TipLSE is best learned by playing: do M and U turns slowly and watch where each edge goes.

Swap opposite edges (M-slice)

M2UM2U2M2UM2

The H-perm, done with M and U only — typical of LSE.

Method 4

ZZ

Fix every edge's orientation first, then solve the rest turning only three faces.

Difficulty
Turns per solveabout 50–55
Time to learnweeks
Algorithmssame last layer as CFOP
Keep one grip the whole time: after the first step you only ever turn L, U and R.

EOLine

Goal: Every edge “oriented”, plus the front-bottom and back-bottom edges placed.

An edge is oriented (good) if it can be solved using only R, L, U and D turns — those turns never flip an edge; only F and B do (a quarter turn of F or B flips four edges).

In this step you spot the bad edges and fix them with F or B turns, and at the same time place the two bottom edges at the front and back (the “line”). From then on, F and B are never needed again.

TipA quick check: an edge is bad if its top/bottom-colour sticker faces a side, or its front/back-colour sticker faces up or down.

F2L with three faces

Goal: The first two layers, turning only L, U and R.

Build a 1×2×3 block on the left and one on the right (around the line), like Roux's blocks — but because every edge is already oriented, only L, U and R turns are needed. No cube rotations, no F or B turns: that is what makes ZZ turning so smooth.

TipSolve one side's block completely, then the other: you can turn freely on the side you are not building.

Last layer

Goal: Solved.

Because every edge was oriented in step one, the top edges are already yellow on top: you skip OLL's first look entirely. Finish with the corner OLL cases (Sune and friends) and then PLL, exactly as in CFOP.

Advanced ZZ solvers use ZBLL to finish the whole last layer in one algorithm, but that set is large — the 2-look route is plenty for a long time.

TipNothing new to learn here if you already know CFOP's last layer.

Sune

RUR'URU2R'

One yellow corner on top — hold it at the front-left.

T-perm

RUR'U'R'FR2U'R'U'RUR'F'

Headlights (a matching pair of corners) on the left; it swaps the two corners on the right.

Side by side

Comparing the methods

They all solve the same cube. They differ in how many moves, how much to memorise, and how they feel.

MethodDifficultyTurnsTo learnAlgorithmsBest for
Beginner about 100–150an afternoon7Anyone who has never solved a cube.
CFOP about 55–60a few weeks (2-look) to months (full)16 to start, 78 in fullAnyone who can already solve with the beginner method and wants to get fast.
Roux about 45–50weeksa handful to start, 42 in fullPeople who like puzzles more than memorising, and one-handed solving.
ZZ about 50–55weekssame last layer as CFOPPeople who like smooth, rotation-free turning and planning ahead.
Choosing

Which one should I learn?

New to the cube

Learn the Beginner method first — every other method builds on what it teaches.

Want to get fast

Move to CFOP next. Start with the 2-look last layer shown here; it is the most documented method by far.

Like thinking, not memorising

Try Roux. Fewer moves and fewer algorithms, more planning. Great for one-handed solves.

Like smooth, steady turning

Try ZZ. After the first step you only turn three sides, with no cube rotations.

Getting better

Practice tips

Slow is smooth

Turn slowly without stopping rather than fast with pauses. Speed comes by itself.

One step at a time

Practise the step you find hardest on its own. Scramble, solve up to that step, then repeat it.

Learn with the app

Put your cube into the solver and pick Beginner or CFOP — it shows every turn of that method on your own cube, step by named step.

Quick answers

Questions people ask

What is the fewest number of moves needed to solve a Rubik's cube?

Every position of a 3×3 Rubik's cube can be solved in 20 moves or fewer (counting a half turn as one move). This limit, known as God's number, was proven in 2010. The Shortest mode of Cube Solver uses the two-phase algorithm and usually finds a solution of about 20 moves.

How long does it take to learn to solve a Rubik's cube?

With the beginner layer-by-layer method, most people solve their first cube within an afternoon to a few days. It needs only 7 short move sequences. The CFOP speedsolving method takes longer: the 2-look version uses 16 sequences, and full CFOP uses about 78.

What is the easiest way to solve a Rubik's cube for beginners?

The layer-by-layer (beginner) method: make a white cross, finish the white layer, solve the middle layer, then the yellow top in four short steps. It is the first method taught in this guide, and the solver can show every turn of it on your own cube in Beginner mode.

How do you make the white cross on a Rubik's cube?

Hold yellow on top and bring the four white edges up around the yellow centre to make a “daisy”. Then turn the top until a petal's other colour sits above the centre of the same colour, and turn that face twice (for example F2) to drop it to the bottom. Do the same for all four petals and you have a white cross on the bottom whose arms match the side centres.

How do you solve the last layer of a Rubik's cube?

In the beginner method the last layer takes four steps with one algorithm each: make the yellow cross with F R U R' U' F', line up the yellow edges with R U R' U R U2 R' U, put the corners in place with U R U' L' U R' U' L, then twist them with R' D' R D. The algorithms page at cube.niranjand.in/algorithms lists them all on one page.

Which method do the fastest speedcubers use?

CFOP (Cross, F2L, OLL, PLL) is the most widely used speedsolving method. Roux and ZZ are also used by some of the fastest solvers. This guide explains all three, plus the beginner method.

How does Cube Solver read the colours of my cube?

Show each side of the cube to your camera, in any order and any way up. The colours are read in your browser from the live camera picture; the video is not uploaded, only the 54 colour readings are sent to the server to double-check them. You can also upload photos of the six sides or enter the colours by hand.

Is Cube Solver free? Do I need an account?

Cube Solver is free and needs no account or sign-up. The solver, the guide and the timer all work in a web browser on a phone or a computer. The timer saves your solve times in your own browser only.

Why does the solver say my cube cannot be solved?

Usually one sticker was read as the wrong colour, often red and orange under warm light. Use Fix a colour to correct it. If a piece was taken out and put back the wrong way, or a corner was twisted by hand, the cube really cannot be solved until that piece is put back correctly.

What do R, U, F and the apostrophe mean in cube moves?

Each letter names a face: R right, L left, U up (top), D down, F front, B back. A letter alone means turn that face a quarter turn clockwise as you look at it; an apostrophe (R') means anticlockwise; a 2 (R2) means a half turn.

Further reading

Sources

This guide is written in our own words. The move sequences are the standard ones cubers share; we checked every one on this site's own cube engine. These pages go further: